Nicolai shows mini downhillers and fullys for all wheel sizes

At the heart of Nicolai's 2013 range is the "Ion 16": a kind of mini downhill bike that also wants to climb well. For the three wheel sizes 26, 27.5 and 29 inches, the Lübrecht-based bike manufacturer has suitable, full-suspension frames available for the Helius series. Nicolai has also repositioned itself in the hardtail segment.

Interested parties will have to wait until February 2013, when the new Nicolai Ion 16 should be available. The German "machine builder" has packed a conical and so-called zero stack head tube into the new bike in order to guarantee a flat front, a lot of pressure on the front wheel and therefore good climbing characteristics. The geometry has an adjustment function, so the steering angle can be varied between 65 and 66 degrees. At the rear, a threading aid helps to mount the wheel in the X-12 rear triangle, while the seat tube is ready for the tidy mounting of a Rock Shox Reverb seatpost in the Stealth version. The "Ion 16" offers 160 millimetres of suspension travel.

The all-rounder Helius
The Helius platform is the all-rounder for all applications. In the Helius TB version, 120-130 progressive millimetres of suspension travel must be enough for trail use, while the Helius AC has 160 millimetres for the fork and, with a newly manufactured rocker arm, 140 or 150 millimetres for the rear triangle, which means that the AC version is more suited to the all-mountain or enduro corner. 26-inch wheels are used for both bikes.

Helius AC 650b is the name of Nicolai's solution to get involved in the market with the intermediate wheel size. The manufacturer praises the new wheel size by claiming that 29ers are simply too big for smaller riders and cannot be ridden quickly. The 650b bike is designed for suspension travel of 140 to 150 millimetres at the front and rolls onto the trails with a steering angle of 67.5 degrees and a seat tube angle of 73.5 degrees.

The Helius AC 29 is the right pairing for tall bikers. The suspension travel is the same as its 650b counterpart, but the angles are 0.5 degrees steeper. Nicolai has designed the 29er all-mountain bike to be as downhill-oriented as possible, but still be able to climb any hill.

Hard gearing
Although Nicolai has developed its own in-house gearbox solutions, the manufacturer also relies on Pinion, the spur gear transmission, for the Argon AM hardtail, consisting of two sub-gears connected in series and 18 evenly stepped gears. The Argon AM is designed for the Gates Carbon Drive belt and forks with a 150 millimeter stroke. Frank Schneider, who won the Master Class at this year's Megavalanche race in Alpe d'Huez, proved that this bike is fast downhill even as a singlespeeder - against the assembled full and geared competition.

www.nicolai.net